China

Children's Literature - Michael Jung PhD

Despite the enormous variety of dishes in traditional Chinese cuisine, many Americans are only familiar with Westernized Chinese dishes such as chop suey and fortune cookies that have little to do with real Chinese cooking. Fortunately, kids can learn more about Chinese cuisine through early reader nonfiction books like A World of Food: China, which not only examines many types of Chinese meals but also delves into how China's agriculture, religions, festivals, and lifestyles influence the way Chinese dishes are prepared and eaten. Children will learn how over 200 million Chinese farmers (almost two-thirds of the population of the United States!) raise food staples like rice, bamboo, soy beans, pigs, chickens, and ducks, to feed China's large population. They will discover how these crops are made into many favorite dishes—including steamed dumplings, lotus-root cakes, rice noodles, and chicken feet in black bean sauce—and find how Chinese philosophies such as Taoism (whose practitioners seek a balance of many flavors, textures, temperatures, and colors to promote good health) influence the Chinese to develop an outstandingly original cuisine. Readers even get a chance to try some of dishes themselves, thanks to a series of recipes the book provides for making Chinese New Year dumplings (jiaozi), tea eggs, and other delicacies. Overall it is an eye-opening look at an aspect of Chinese culture that will whet the appetites of young readers and encourage them to sample the many different cuisines described. Reviewer: Michael Jung, PhD